


How a Bud became a Rose

by metalshootingstar



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 08:16:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20617868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metalshootingstar/pseuds/metalshootingstar
Summary: Stevie's father pays a visit to the motel, and David eventually even finds out about her dark past. In the end however, the Roses give Stevie what she's always wanted ever since she was a little girl.





	How a Bud became a Rose

**Author's Note:**

> So this was written after a very hard day...and I hope you like it!

It's never a good morning when the door slams.

David had been heading towards the lobby, when he saw a man step out of the lobby and slam the door behind him before getting in his car and driving off. Well that can't be good. He quickens his pace, and walks in to see Stevie at her desk trying her hardest and failing not to cry. Immediately the protective instincts he felt for Alexis all those years kicks into high gear and he studies her. No signs of bruising, and no signs of scratches.

"David, leave." She orders, though he doesn't move he stays there looking at her. Trying to piece together what happened, because this is not his best friend at least..how she normally acts. Before he says anything she grabs something and tosses it at him while yelling. "I SAID LEAVE!"

He's shocked and speechless because woah where the hell did that come from. All these years he's known Stevie, he's never seen her react like that towards him...or anyone. So whilst he does want to respect her wishes. A part of him says stay. So he does. He slowly goes over to her, and she's glaring at him with angry red puffy eyes, and she looks a mess with her tear stained face and her now splotchy face. David gently goes over and wraps his arms around her in a tight hug. To which she doesn't accept at first, infact she kind of squirms a little...but then she reciprocates by clinging to his sleeve. Immediately pulling away, when the man comes in again.

"- And another...who the fuck is this?" Asked the man, pointing to David.

"This is my best friend, David this is my dad." Said Stevie softly.

"Oh and now you're gonna go whining and complaining to your friends? Grow the fuck up young lady. You're a thirty year old woman, still crying whenever I even try to talk to you. I haven't even said anything wrong, why the fuck are you so sensitive!" He exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the counter taking David aback as he looks at the man before looking at Stevie.

"Dad could you please lower your voice a little?" She asked softly.

"Why am I embarrassing you? Well do you know how fucking embarrassing it is to have to tell my friends what it is you do? Jesus fuck Stevie. I expected better from you, and stop crying because I'm not even yelling at you. I'm not even saying anything remotely wrong. You're the one whose doing something wrong!" Yells her dad and David is speechless and Stevie tries to hold in her tears and still fails as she looks down. "Look at me when I talk to you and don't fucking ignore me."

"Yes dad." She said her voice tiny and small, and she looks up at him.

"Hey Stevie, the vending machine needs to be...re-...what's going on?" Asked Johnny as he walked in and saw his son standing there, with a man who resembles Stevie standing there...and Stevie herself crying.

"Who the hell is this?"

"Who are you?" Asked Johnny.

"That's my dad, He co-owns the motel with Stevie." Said David, "Dad..meet Stevie's dad."

"Oh Mr. Budd, it's nice to meet you." Said Johnny, and David saw his demeanor immediately changing.

"Good to meet you too Mr. Rose, I'm sorry that you have to deal with my daughter though. I know Stevie can be lazy and irresponsible, with a terrible attitude." Said Mr. Budd, and the two Roses were thrown for a loop with that. Stevie said nothing.

"Well I mean Stevie is one of the best and most hardworking employees I've ever seen. C'mon, why don't I get you a beer and we can have a chat. Let the two kids talk." Said Johnny, reading the room...and the looks David was giving him that clearly meant 'get him out of here'. Mr. Budd shrugged and followed Mr. Rose out of the motel lobby. David said nothing as Stevie began to cry and try to dry her tears. He went over and hugged his best friend who clung to him and seemed to cry harder.

"It's ok, it's ok I've got you, I've got you." Said David, as he hugged her protectively. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Stevie sat there in silence, and she had worked so hard not telling anyone about any of her shit. She knew everything about everyone's bullshit, but no one knew her bullshit..and she wanted to keep it that way. Right now she was embarrassed and humiliated, because she didn't want David or Mr. Rose to see any of that. She hadn't wanted them to see her life and to take a peek beneath the sarcasm and plaid. She didn't want anyone to know how truly fucked up her family was. She was fine learning about other people..and helping them, watching from the sidelines. David gently took her by the hand and led her to the couch where immediately she sits. Legs on the table, arms crossed building a wall between herself and David.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" She asked.

"Patrick can handle the store without me. Besides, you need me more right now." Said David gently placing a hand on her shoulder. He reached into his workbag and pulled out some wetwipes, and gently cleaned Stevie's face making her chuckle.

"Are tear stains incorrect?" She teases slightly.

"Very incorrect." He teases back. "So...what's the deal with that whole situation?"

"Nothing." Replied Stevie, David sighed and gently took one of her hands in his holding it tightly. "Realistically speaking, I've never told anyone anything about my family."

"Maybe it's time you did." Said David, making her look up at him with the biggest puppy eyes he's ever seen. He reaches over, pulling her into a hug, so that she's leaning on him slightly. "You can tell me everything..about your past, your family, and I promise I will still be here."

She looks up at him, uncertainly. Except, this is David, her best friend David. The same David who she knows everything about, from his past relationships, to his family and their whole issues, to who he is as a person and she's still stuck around. Who wanted to bring her to New York, who was there with Ice Cream and cheesy romcoms they could make fun of after the whole Emir thing, who trusted her more than any other person, who is her best friend. David is...her best friend. She sighed, leaned into the hug as he gently patted her hair.

"My family is...complicated. My mom and dad had me a year after getting married, then my brothers and sisters...I am the oldest of five children. Me, two brothers and two sisters. And...we lived with our mom and dad and dad was...a strict man. It was like, he wanted soldiers instead of children. He loved making my mom cry, it was like...that was his goal in life was to make her cry. He loved drinking...beer mostly. He's a man who...was also very jealous. If someone looked at my mom, he would yell at her about who was that guy, why was he looking at you, and...she would try to explain herself but he never let her. He was a horrible husband...and a horrible father. Every day was another 'lecture' which wasn't even a lecture it was just him ranting and yelling. About how, we didn't do a chore right, about how we never cleaned our rooms. He um...worked for a lumber yard. And he would take my brothers...out to work for him out in the yard even when they were little...because he wanted them to be strong, to feed his own ego. My sisters and I...scrutinized. 'You're women you're supposed to always look presentable, you're supposed to always be clean, always smell nice, always keep a house clean, and always always a lecture on how he gives us everything and we don't appreciate it and how we should be glad to have a dad with us because some people don't even have dads."

David listens and her tears are falling, and he closes his eyes and this honestly explains so much about his best friend it's not even funny. Stevie meanwhile continues and he can tell that he's opened the floodgates because she's still crying and speaking.

"And I had it worse. I was the oldest and had to be the example, but I didn't want to be...I didn't ask for that. and...fuck. He made my life a living hell, sometimes there were moments where I wanted to kill myself because I thought if I did...he'd finally take the hint that what he does is not ok. But I was too...too weak to do it."

"No,no,no,no No Stevie...hey, that's not weakness, that's strength." Said David as he gently brushes away her tears. "That was you being strong and staying even though life was hard."

She sniffs and looks up at him before sighing feeling this immense pressure lift away from her.

"The thing was...he never took responsibility for any of it, he prided himself on being a supposed good father and to the outside world he was the perfect man...but with us he was...awful. I eventually dropped out of school, and owned the motel...and my brothers and sisters left...I don't really talk to them much, or see them. We all have different opinions of our dad...and I rebelled in my own way, I wear what I want..I do what I want...I keep my apartment the way I want...and I don't have to put up with his crap anymore." She said with a sniff.

"You don't. I feel like I understand you a little bit more now. You have gone through a lot of shit, but you're strong and you're brave, and you're sincere, and you didn't deserve any of that. None of you did...and I'm sorry that you had to go through that. But, he can't hurt you anymore. You're a thirty year old woman, who has a life of her own, who deserves better." Said David sincerely.

"It's easier said than done, because when he's here...I'm that scared little girl again." She whimpers.

"But you're not that little girl. She's all grown up now, and she is a badass. She's my best friend, and my best friend shouldn't have to put up with that mistreatment anymore." Said David encouragingly making her chuckle.

"...I don't know if I can." She replied, because she knows she's not going to be able to. One word and she'll revert back to being the small, insecure little girl whose too afraid to talk back.

"I'll be right here with you." Said David, "I'm not leaving."

"Are you going to tell Patrick?" She asked.

"No, I'll just tell him I had to help you with some personal stuff." He replied, because that technically wasn't a lie. She looks up at him with those dark eyes.

"Thank you David, you really are my best friend."Said Stevie, making David smile. They both stood up, when Stevie's dad walked in.

"- And another thing, you don't get to tell me how I fucking raised my kids!"

"Well, at least I never degraded my wife to the point I made her cry, nor did I ever make my children feel like they were any less than perfect." Said Johnny as he walked in after him, clearly they'd had a heart to heart of their own and things hadn't gone over all that well.

"Dad." Said Stevie, and the two men looked at her. She stands there, and looks at him defiantly but she immediately looks down when he turns and faces her and in that moment..she's a little girl, crying because her dad was yelling at her over something the teacher said about her, she's a little girl crying because dad's yelling at her over staining her shirt on accident, she's a little girl getting yelled at because she left for school without making her bed that morning, she's a little girl being yelled at because she spends all her time in her room, she's a little girl, crying because daddy threw away her toys while making her clean. She's a little girl and there's a lump in her throat and she can't say anything. Then she feels someone hold her hand. She looks and sees David holding her hand...and she realizes...she is not a little girl anymore.

"I hate you."She says, and she stands tall. "I hate that you yelled at me for every single little thing I ever did wrong, sometimes I didn't even do anything wrong. I hate that you were nice to everyone except us, I hate that you wanted us to be perfect...we were never perfect, and maybe Mr. Rose wasn't always the most attentive father but he was better to David and Alexis than you ever were to us. You gave us lunch money, and clothes, food, all that we asked for but you also used that against us. You made us believe that we needed you, when we didn't. You hurt mom...and all she did was love you and stand up for you and you didn't deserve that. Maybe Katie forgave you, and maybe Carol saw the best in you...but I didn't. Because y'know what? I didn't deserve everything you put me through. I didn't deserve a father who was a drill sergeant, who threatened to fucking break my jaw just because I spoke up once!"

Johnny and David share a look at that, before looking at the man who immediately tries to make himself remain calm.

"Stevie calm down." Says Mr. Budd.

"Why dad? Am I embarrassing you?" Asked Stevie, as she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't even know why I'm wasting my breath. Because, you're never gonna change, you never have and you never will."

"I was not a bad father." Says Mr. Budd, immediately pointing at her. "I gave you everything, I fucking did a good job it's not my fault you're an ungrateful little bitch!"

"Hey!" Exclaimed Johnny, immediately stepping forward. "You can't talk to her that way."

"It's ok Mr. Rose, I got it." She said, and Johnny turns to his son who nods because yeah she's got it. "What should I be grateful for dad? The times I got yelled at or the times I was made to feel guilty? Or was it the time I wanted to kill myself because I thought that would be better than being your daughter?"

He went to slap her when she grabbed his wrist and glared at him.

"You were never my father." She said, "and I don't ever want to see you in my motel ever again."

She lets his hand go, and he scoffs as he looks down at her, before storming off fuming. She doesn't move even with the sound of a car door slamming and tires screeching off. David once again hugs her because she deserves that today.

"I'm very proud of you." Said David putting his hands on her shoulders making her smile softly as another weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"Stevie?" She looked up, as Mr. Rose went over and gently held her hands. "I'm so sorry, that you had a father like that...you didn't deserve that. Why was he here?"

"Today...is my birthday." She said softly.

"It's your birthday? Ok, Why didn't you tell me when your birthday was?" Asked David, making her shrug. "C'mon, I'll take the whole day off..Patrick will understand and, we can make up for this...whole thing. "

"But-"

"Go ahead sweetheart, I can handle the motel today. It's your birthday, go have fun." Said Johnny as he happily patted her shoulder. Stevie smiled and nodded as she grabbed her bag with David leading her away. He had a conversation to have with Moira...and a couple of calls to make. Outside, Stevie hugs David tightly.

"Thank you, I don't think I could have done that without you." She said making him smile.

"I knew you had it in you. "Said David making her chuckle.

Later that evening, Stevie and David are infront of Cafe Tropical and walk in to reveal everyone there with lights strung up, music, champagne, and a cake. She smiled as everyone greeted her with smiles and hugs, and 'Happy Birthdays. While Ted and Alexis were at the Galapagos they were still there via Facetime on Patrick's cellphone. She stops, when she notices the Roses standing together and there's something behind Johnny's back as Moira holds the phone, whilst David and Alexis look at her excitedly.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Once upon a time, there was an actress and a business mogul. They only wanted two children, and they received a son and a daughter so they decided to stop there. Then one day, something happened. They came to reside in a small town, and in this town...they met another little girl." Said Moira, as she gently took one of Stevie's hands in hers. "A little girl who was rough around the edges, but who was intelligent, well spoken, cool, and beautiful. A little girl who came from a family that didn't appreciate her, and one who did not deserve her, this little girl slowly began to integrate herself into their family. The family, came to love this little girl in turn and found that they never wanted to part ways with her. So...with the little girl's permission...they wanted to make it official."

"Will you, Stevie Budd...be our little girl?" Asked Johnny, as he pulled out a small box and opened it to reveal a necklace, with a rose pendant.

Stevie's eyes widened as she looked up at them. She almost starts crying, from happiness...because it took a long, long time but she had found the family she always wanted. A home where she never had to be afraid, or feel like she had to end things to make a point, where she felt like she had to be someone else or measure to high standards...where she could be herself...where she would be safe. She sniffed and nodded.

"Yeah, yes yeah...I'd love to." She said with a nod, as she hugged Johnny and Moira, who hugged her back. "Thank you."

"You're already a better little sister than Alexis." Teased David, as she looked up at him.

"HEY!" Exclaimed Alexis, as she rolled her eyes before looking at Stevie. "I always wanted a sister...welcome to the family."

"So does this make her Stevie Rose now?" Asked Patrick curiously.

"That's up to her I think." Said David, making Patrick nod as he smiled at his fiance. Later that night, once back in her apartment Stevie went over and gently placed the family portrait on her bedside. With her new family. She smiled softly..remembering one night after a particularly bad 'lecture' sitting alone in her room. A small little girl, looking up at the sky, and wishing. Just wishing for a family who was different, a family who loved her...and she wishes she could tell that little girl that it gets better. That she has to wait awhile...but she eventually finds what she's been yearning for. She finds another family.


End file.
